AFI Life Achievement Award Retrospective: John Williams

John Williams' storied career as the composer behind many of the greatest American films and television series of all time boasts hundreds of credits across seven decades. His early work in Hollywood included working as an orchestrator and studio pianist under such movie composer maestros as Bernard Herrmann, Alfred Newman, Henry Mancini, Elmer Bernstein and Franz Waxman. He went on to write music for more than 200 television programs, including the groundbreaking anthology series ALCOA THEATRE and KRAFT TELEVISION THEATRE. Perhaps best known for his enduring collaboration with director Steven Spielberg, his scores are among the most iconic and recognizable in film history, from the edge-of-your-seat JAWS (1975) motif to the emotional swell of E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) and the haunting elegies of SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993). Always epic in scale, his music has helped define over half a century of the motion picture medium. Three of Williams' scores landed on AFI's 100 Years Of Film Scores — a list of the 25 greatest American film scores of all time — including the unforgettable STAR WARS (1977) soundtrack, at number one. With five Academy Award® wins and 50 nominations in total, Williams holds the record for the most Oscar® nominations of any living person.

The television broadcast of the AFI Life Achievement Award honoring John Williams airs on TCM on September 12 during a night of programming dedicated to Williams. Before watching the program, enjoy this carefully selected retrospective of films featuring Williams' many memorable and moving scores.

AFI Member passes accepted.

JAWS

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND – Director's Cut

THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS

HOW TO STEAL A MILLION

THE KILLERS (1964)

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

THE COWBOYS (1972)

THE REIVERS

VALLEY OF THE DOLLS

HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN

THE LONG GOODBYE

IMAGES

BLACK SUNDAY (1977)

SUPERMAN (1978)

DRACULA (1979)

E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL

THE FURY (1978)

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM

JURASSIC PARK (1993)

A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS (1969)

STAR WARS: EPISODE IV – A NEW HOPE

STAR WARS: EPISODE V – THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

STAR WARS: EPISODE VI ­– RETURN OF THE JEDI

LINCOLN

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (2002)

SCHINDLER'S LIST

John Carpenter Classics

Genre filmmaker icon John Carpenter appears at the Lincoln Theatre on July 12 to perform his original soundtrack compositions. Catch these Carpenter classics — all written, directed, produced, edited and/or scored by Carpenter — on the big screen during that same week.

AFI Member passes accepted.

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA

ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (1976)

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK

ESCAPE FROM L.A.

Olivia de Havilland Centennial

On July 1, screen legend Olivia de Havilland turns 100, and to commemorate this event, AFI Silver presents a selection of some of her finest films, including both of her Best Actress Oscar®-winning performances: TO EACH HIS OWN (1946) and THE HEIRESS (1949).

Glorious Technicolor

The first color motion picture process to be called "Technicolor" was invented in 1916. The process would be refined over the coming decades, with the original "two-strip," limited color palette process giving way to the full-blown, deeply saturated look of "three-strip" color. The vivid hues of Technicolor imbued emotional shading and color-coded leitmotifs to Hollywood's celluloid dreams. When used creatively, classic Technicolor could paint a picture of heightened reality for fantasies and adventures in exotic, historical or futuristic settings, or create a dream world in which lovers could swoon, sing and dance.

The recent publication of the definitive study, "The Dawn of Technicolor" by David Pierce and James Layton, and the occasion of Technicolor's centennial make this the perfect time to marvel at the unique beauty of these color films on the big screen.

AFI Member passes accepted.

THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938)

BECKY SHARP

THE TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE (1936)

IVANHOE (1952)

ANNE OF THE INDIES

THE RED SHOES

BLACK NARCISSUS

THE SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS (1941)

SINGIN' IN THE RAIN

SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES

FOLLOW THRU

THE GARDEN OF ALLAH (1936)

THE MAN FROM LARAMIE

THE NAKED SPUR

NIAGARA

THE BLACK PIRATE (1926)

LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN

THE AFRICAN QUEEN

NORTHWEST PASSAGE

DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK

BEN-HUR (1959)

THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T

MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933)

REDSKIN

A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

THE TOLL OF THE SEA

THE HARVEY GIRLS

MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION (1954)

WRITTEN ON THE WIND

UCLA Festival of Preservation

The UCLA Festival of Preservation showcases classics and seldom-seen gems of American film culture, newly restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, spanning an entire century of moving image media.

Films listed here screen at AFI Silver; for films screening at the National Gallery of Art, visit nga.gov.

AFI Member passes accepted.

BACHELOR'S AFFAIRS

THE LONG VOYAGE HOME

MEN IN WAR

MY BEST GIRL with short films

Ken Adam Remembered

A giant in the field of production design, Ken Adam passed away in March of 2016 at age 95. Renowned as the designer of many of the most iconic, space-age-inspired locations in the James Bond films, including villain Ernst Blofeld's secret lair within a volcanic crater, the influence of Adam's work in filmmaking and beyond cannot be overstated. For Stanley Kubrick, he designed not only the iconic war room in DR. STRANGELOVE, with its oval table and drop lighting (the story goes that newly sworn-in President Reagan was disappointed to learn that it wasn't a real thing upon his first visit to the Pentagon), but also the genteel 18th-century country homes of BARRY LYNDON, for which he won his first Oscar®.

Enjoy Adam's imaginative, eye-popping designs in this selection of some of his finest work from a career that spanned six decades.

AFI Member passes accepted.

DR. NO

GOLDFINGER

THUNDERBALL

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE

THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS (1956)

THE SPY WHO LOVED ME

MOONRAKER

THE IPCRESS FILE

FUNERAL IN BERLIN

BARRY LYNDON

GIDEON OF SCOTLAND YARDaka GIDEON'S DAY

NIGHT OF THE DEMON (1957)aka CURSE OF THE DEMON

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG

THE LAST OF SHEILA

STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB

THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE

Wim Wenders: Portraits Along the Road

Along with his compatriots Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders was one of the key names that defined the New German Cinema of the 1970s. This career retrospective includes new restorations of more than a dozen of his most essential films, including the '70s German films that established his career (ALICE IN THE CITIES, KINGS OF THE ROAD), the '80s art house hits that brought him his greatest international acclaim (PARIS, TEXAS; WINGS OF DESIRE), and several documentaries, both the obscure (TOKYO-GA, his meditation on Japanese director Yasujirô Ozu) and the famous (the Oscar®-nominated Cuban music crowd-pleaser BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB). And don't miss this opportunity to see the newly restored director's cut of UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD, which at more than four hours nearly doubles the length of the badly truncated original release.

Keepin' It Real: '90s Cinema Now

American moviegoers in the 1990s witnessed exciting and dynamic changes in cinema: the rise to prominence of American independent film; hip hop's emergence as a mainstream influence; more diversity on screen; the emergence of Hollywood's auteur action directors; and new waves of international cinema crossing borders like never before.

This year's '90s series includes debut feature films by Wes Anderson, Mary Harron, Nicole Holofcener, Julian Schnabel, John Singleton and the Wachowskis, plus landmark films from auteurs at the top of their game, including Pedro Almodóvar, the Coen brothers, Richard Linklater, Alexander Payne, Lars von Trier and Wong Kar-wai.

AFI Member passes accepted.

BOYZ N THE HOOD

NEW JACK CITY

BOTTLE ROCKET

FARGO

TRAINSPOTTING

BASQUIAT

I SHOT ANDY WARHOL

WHAT ABOUT BOB?

BOUND

FROM DUSK TILL DAWN

THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT

THE LAST BOY SCOUT

ELECTION

SLACKER

SCREAM

COMRADES: ALMOST A LOVE STORY

CHUNGKING EXPRESS

BREAKING THE WAVES

HIGH HEELS

THE LOVERS ON THE BRIDGE

THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE

POINT BREAK (1991)

THE ROCKETEER

MADONNA: TRUTH OR DARE

WALKING AND TALKING

Looney Tunes

Back by popular demand: another selection of Warner Bros.' classic Looney Tunes cartoons. Last summer's series for Bugs Bunny's 75th anniversary played to packed houses of animation fans, young and old. This year, Bugs is joined by the whole Looney Tunes gang, including Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester and Tweety, Foghorn Leghorn and the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote.

Enjoy these animation masterpieces on Saturday and Sunday mornings in August, presented on 35mm prints and back on the big screen where they started.

AFI Member passes accepted.

Silver Screens on Veterans Plaza

AFI Silver is excited to announce the launch of a FREE outdoor film series in downtown Silver Spring! Silver Screens is presented by AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center and Montgomery County Councilmember Tom Hucker, with support from the Montgomery County Department of Recreation and the Silver Spring Jazz Festival.

All screenings are FREE and are presented rain or shine! (The location is partially under cover of the pavillion.) Screenings take place on Veterans Plaza in downtown Silver Spring, at the intersection of Fenton Street and Ellsworth Drive. Films begin at sundown, between 8:00 and 8:30 p.m. All films will be shown with subtitles.

Bring your own low-rise chair or a blanket to sit on.

Pack a picnic, grab dinner to go from one of many local restaurants, or purchase snacks and beverages from on-site vendor Whole Foods Market Silver Spring.

Beer from Denizen's Brewing Co. and wine from Adega will be available for purchase (must be 21+) at all screening dates except Aug. 12.

Parking is available at the Town Square Garage and the Wayne Avenue Garage (free in the evenings when you exit the garage after 8:00 p.m.)